Maui News

LIVE STREAM: Maui Mayor COVID-19 Daily Update, April 23, 2020

Maui police responded to 15 burglaries, 4 vehicle thefts and 9 vehicle break-ins in Maui County over a seven day period from April 12 to April 18, 2020.

On Wednesday, April 22, 421 people arrived in Hawaiʻi including 109 visitors and 166 residents.   On Maui, 51 people arrived on a single flight including 35 residents, 14 visitors and two crew members. 

Construction work on the Maui Lani roundabout project will begin Monday, April 27, at the intersection of Maui Lani Parkway and Kamehameha Avenue in Kahului, the County of Maui Department of Public Works announced this afternoon. 

With $25,000 in funding from the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai‘i or VASH has paid to send 19 people back to their airports of origin during the COVID-19 crisis. For individuals arrested for violating the self-quarantine rules, they have the option of arranging payment of fines with the courts in lieu of returning to Hawai‘i for trials.

The US Supreme Court today issued a ruling on the Lahaina injection well case which requires the federal government to regulate groundwater pollutants that find their way into navigable waters, such as oceans.  The case focused on discharge from the Lahaina Wastewater Reclamation Facility.

“Our planet, with its climate still in crisis, is showing us that a significant reduction in pollution can drastically improve the health of our environment. We’re just sorry that it took a global pandemic to prove this point.”

As of noon on Thursday, April 23, 2020, there are 596 cases of COVID-19 identified in Hawaiʻi with 4 new cases. Maui County has two new cases for a total of 112 confirmed positive. Of the 112 cases in Maui County, at least 60 have been released from isolation, and 9 have required hospitalization.

Mayor Victorino said the county is also looking to add more homeless shelter space in cooperation with the carpenters union and HPM–the company that constructed emergency shelters on Hawaiʻi Island in Hilo.  

Kauaʻi homesteader Robin Puanani Danner will be the featured presenter at the inaugural 2020 Centennial Puwalu, or conference on April 30.

Officials with the Maui District Health Office clarified information shared yesterday about a group of positive COVID-19 cases involving a restaurant on Maui.  Dr. Lorrin Pang said he misspoke by calling the group a cluster and said the group included 3 or 4 confirmed cases and 100 exposed contacts. 

Drive-through testing for COVID-19 will take place in South Maui tomorrow, April 23, at the South Maui Community Park Gymnasium parking lot. To reduce wait times and on-site registration, individuals are asked to pre-register for testing at www.minitmed.com. Testing will be open to first responders and healthcare workers ONLY from 9 to 10 a.m. First responders and healthcare workers should present their work IDs for screening. Testing for the general public will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Testing will be provided at no out-of-pocket cost for individuals.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino announced that a food distribution will take place on Thursday, April 23, to provide bags of food to individuals in need that are impacted by COVID-19 in Pāʻia and Haʻikū. To date more than 2,000 bags of food and produce have been distributed to residents at distribution events across Maui County.

Drive-through testing for COVID-19 will take place again tomorrow, April 23, at Keōpūolani Regional Park. Testing will be open to first responders and healthcare workers ONLY from 9 to 10 a.m. Testing for the general public will be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Testing will be provided at no-cost.

Maui Mayor Michael Victorino provides an update on response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impacts locally.

This week, four individuals have been arrested on O‘ahu for violating the State’s mandatory, 14-day, self-quarantine orders for everyone flying into Hawai‘i. Anyone arriving in Hawai‘i from out of state goes through a mandatory screening process, including filling out an Order for Self-Quarantine form. Depending on the island, processing of these forms is handled by the Department of Transportation and/or the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority.

Prior to the pandemic, Hawaiʻi was processing in late February about 700 claims per week.  “And so you can imagine what happens when you end up with about a quarter of a million–somewhere around a quarter million claims,” said Murakami.  In a single day, Murakami said the department received about 25,000 filings.  

On Monday, an individual called the Sheriff Division to report that he was contacted via text by someone claiming to be a “Sergeant Anderson” with the Sheriff Division Internet Crimes Task Force. According to the report, the impersonator stated that the man would be arrested for inappropriate internet use unless he paid an undisclosed amount of money.

As of noon on Wednesday, April 22, 2020, there are 592 cases of COVID-19 identified in Hawaiʻi with 6 new cases, three each on Hawaiʻi Island and Oʻahu. Maui County has no new cases. Of the 110 cases in Maui County, at least 60 have been released from isolation, and 9 have required hospitalization.

A radio segment featuring executives and doctors with Maui Health runs daily at 7:19 a.m. on KPOA 93.5 FM.  The series providing updates and answers questions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Today’s guest is Dr. Lee Weiss, Regional Director of Emergency Medical Services.  In his interview, Dr. Weiss discussed supplements, boosting the immune system, safety related to ibuprofen and social distancing.